Effect of microclimate on early and total yield of bottle gourd

Bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria (Mol) Standl.), cucurbitaceae crops normally cultivated during summer and rainy season. The effect of plastic mulch and plastic low tunnel alone and plastic mulch with plastic low tunnel on soil and air temperature was studied. The effect of plasticulture technologies on early and total yield of bottle gourd were evaluated for BSS 951 (Semal) and ES 330 (Sunder). The increase in air and soil temperature was 1-170C and 3-80C, respectively open field condition. The highest yield of bottle gourd for BSS-951 (Semal) was 24.16 t/ha under low tunnel and for ES-330 (Sunder) was 22.16 t/ha under mulch with low tunnel and significantly superior to other treatments. The highest net BC ratio was 2.73 (BSS 951) and 1.72 (ES 330) respectively for low tunnel and mulch with low tunnel condition.